Woodstone and Walzem elementary kindergarten students participated in Nursery Rhyme Olympics at their schools as part of a year-long study of nursery rhymes.

At Woodstone, parent volunteers and fifth-grade students helped man the 12 stations of the olympics as two kindergarten classes rotated through at a time. Stations consisted of different activities to go along with the rhymes. Some of the stations included Hickory Dickory Dock: students used a hula hoop and numbers one to 12 to make the face of a clock; Mother Good Waddle: students "waddled" with a dodge ball between their legs; and Three Blind Mice: students wore blind folds while stringing beads onto the mice "tails." Each student received a special Nursery Rhyme Olympic certificate to commemorate the event. 

The students started the school year with a visit from Mother Goose and made a special nursery rhyme clip to hang the "nursery rhyme of the week" on their home refrigerator. Every few weeks a new nursery rhyme was introduced and practiced. Sara Romine, the school's librarian, would then practice finding rhyming words and looking for "popcorn" words with the students during their library time. 

Throughout the school year, Walzem kindergartners learned several nursery rhymes during weekly visits to the library. They also learned the rhymes and completed activities via SMARTboards. At the school's Nursery Rhyme Olympics, 12 stations were set up where the students competed in nursery rhyme contests. Fourth-grade patrols manned each station and assisted the kindergartners.

Top row: Woodstone, bottom row: Walzem.